There is probably no other place that gave the participants of the Beijing-Paris Rally such a frenetic welcome as Sarnen in the canton of Obwalden. Hanspeter Durrer, himself a former participant in the rally, was responsible for this. He knows exactly what it means to have successfully completed such an adventure once in a lifetime.
Around 250 people made their way to the village square to greet the exhausted arrivals with their flying boxes with huge enthusiasm.
With Austrian guests
The crew of the BMW 1600-2 from 1970 with Josef Gsellmann and Franz Stetzl even come from Vorarlberg.
And they didn't miss out on the celebration in Sarnen and added the short loop to the 14,000 kilometers already driven to Central Switzerland, and not just to pick up the popular fried cheese ...
The right equipment
The 1949 Ford F1 was even equipped with a secret refrigerator. Manuel Dubs and Luca Arrigucci learned from the two previous missions and were the only ones who were always able to enjoy cool drinks in the scorching sun.
The 1941 Mercury Eight with Hans-Ulrich Wartenweiler and Verena Simmen, the two siblings from Zurich, also made the long journey to Sarnen.
Rookie success
Carlos Rieder and Urs Schnüriger achieved 3rd place overall and class victory in their 1931 Ford A on their first participation.
It is the best Swiss result ever and of course the rookie crown comes on top.
The local heroes from Obwalden, Beppi and Chris Dillier, drove to an excellent fourth place overall in their second participation in the Chrysler 70 Roadster 1930 and also won their class.
Hats off also to the team of Christian Müller and Candy Göricke in the 1926 Cadillac Series 314 V8 Racer. Despite the cramped conditions and being completely exposed to the elements, they successfully completed the monster course.
A few pictures should document the successful reception and we salute all participants, even those who got stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere, such as the American La France Type 10 from 1914), which caught fire in Azerbaijan and unfortunately burned out completely.
